The leaders' meeting for APEC China 2001 was held shortly after the September 11th Attacks on New York City and Washington, DC, in the United States, which quickly led to a "War on Terror" and an invasion of Afghanistan by American forces.

[4] Chinese Foreign Minister Tang Jiaxuan visited Washington to conclude preliminary arrangements with Vice-President Dick Cheney and Secretary of State Colin Powell in mid-September.

[8] APEC China 2001 was overseen by a steering committee headed by Vice-Premier Qian Qichen and including Shanghai mayor Xu Kuangdi and Party secretary Huang Ju; Organization Department head Zeng Qinghong; State Council secretary-general Wang Zhongyu; Central Office director Wang Gang; Minister of Foreign Affairs Tang Jiaxuan; and Minister of Foreign Trade Shi Guangsheng.

[9] Wang Guangya and Zhang Yesui, then vice-minister and assistant minister at the Foreign Office, managed day-to-day affairs as the heads of the conference's secretariat.

The national and municipal governments attached great importance to the APEC summit, in particular to the "grand gathering" of world leaders in Shanghai in October.

[14] Ahead of the October events, Shanghai spent a considerable sum on beautifying the city[15][16] and refurbishing the major 4- and 5-star hotels,[15] including providing them with drinkable tap water.

[16] Bridges and other infrastructure were examined and improved where needed,[16] including an expansion of Pudong Airport to accommodate VIP arrivals and departures without inconvenience to other travelers.

[22][25] The first evening of the Leaders' Meeting was closed with Oriental TV's enormous 20-minute fireworks display along 1.8 kilometers (1.1 mi) of the Huangpu River, including the use of the Bund buildings to represent both piano keys and the APEC member countries.

[13] The importance of China to such action—at the time, it was the only country in the Asia-Pacific region experiencing rapid economic growth[2]—led to renewed support for its impending ascension to full membership in the World Trade Organization and prompted calls to "work together to fight against protectionism in all forms".

[41] Bush spoke of the fight against terrorism as "the urgent task of our time", claiming "there is no isolation from evil" and "every nation must oppose this enemy or turn into its target".

[42] He used the conferences, particularly his centerpiece address, as an opportunity to enlist the support of Asian political and business leaders for counterterrorism and his nascent war in Afghanistan, as well as economic recovery from the attacks.

[43] In the end, both Jiang and Putin spoke strongly about the need to "unswervingly oppose... terrorism in any form, whenever and wherever it occurs and who[m]ever it targets",[8][12] while particularly connecting such opposition to Russia's ongoing Chechnyan Conflict and China's issues tamping down Uyghur separatism,[8] both of which had drawn some international complaints.

[47] In lieu of selecting any of these, Jiang presented world leaders with the "tang suit" or tangzhuang, an "ambiguously traditional"[48] silk jacket with a Mandarin collar and knotted buttons that employed western sartorial techniques like draping, darts, set-in sleeves,[49] and shoulder pads[50] to create a stronger and more fitted look.

[56] Although the APEC jackets' fabric was supposedly enhanced with advanced synthetic fiber and the outfit's designers took pains to highlight its modern elements,[50] the new tangzhuangs were made in silk in such numbers that it revitalized the industry[57][58] and have come to be treated as an ethnic costume to wear for traditional festivals.

[59] Its inauthenticity in that role—its closest predecessor was the Manchu "horse jacket" (magua) rather than anything from the Tang dynasty—eventually led to the Hanfu movement, aiming to revive ancient and medieval Chinese fashions.